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Author: master

Medellín is becoming a propitious environment for the development of fast growing startups with global potential as well as a technical talent multiplier.

Although Socialatom Ventures’ invests in all of Latin America and the U.S., last year it launched a special partnership with the city of Medellin through the local entity Ruta N to support startups.

“Andrés Barreto, CEO of Socialatom Ventures, seed capital fund and Ruta N ally, has recognized the value of these startapps which raised national and international funds thanks to their global potential.”

The partnership has proven very successful and above all a reflection of what Medellin is trying to achieve: public-private cooperation to promote innovation.

So far, a handful of global startups with products developed 100% in Medellín, including AllTheRooms, Viajala, Typic and Bankity, have raised together over 4.4 millions of dollars. Typic alone has over 3 millions users who shared more than 50 thousand photos and Bankity has processed over 50 thousands transactions with electronic money.

Last June, Box acquired Streem, a Socialatom Ventures’ portolio startup that allows customers to stream files to their desktop environments, a product that is now part of Box’s larger offerings:

Although questions had arisen about how Box’s initial public offering would fare, public investors gave the company a warm welcome on Friday, its first day of trading.

Shares in Box, the online file storage company, opened at $20.20 on Friday morning, 44 percent higher than its I.P.O. price of $14 a share.

The stock continued to surge to close the day at $23.23, up nearly 66 percent, giving the company a market value of $2.7 billion. At that level, the start-up has surpassed the $2.4 billion valuation that it fetched in its most recent private financing round last summer.

Bluesmart, the first world smart carry-on that can locate, lock and weigh your belongings from an app on your smartphone, has announced their total raise via both crowdfunding and angel investors to be 2M, adding Y-Combinator as a backer.

Co-founded by Argentinian team Diego Saez Gil Tomi Pierucci, Alejo Verlini, Martin Diz as well as Brian Chen, they have had a meteoric rise, first beating their indiegogo goal within 2 hours, to beat their original goal by 3,860 % in only a couple of months.

Imagine a world where you never lose your luggage,” says CEO of Bluesmart, Diego Saez-Gil. He motions to a compact carry-on suitcase sitting beside us and tells me he can track this piece of luggage anywhere.

It operates on a detachable, Bluetooth-enabled motherboard with a built-in GPS. Weight sensors embedded within the handle let you know if your suitcase meets international travel guidelines. There’s even a built-in, 37-watt lithium-ion battery and a USB plug so you can power your smartphone up to six times while on the go.

The app tracks which airports the case has been to, how many miles traveled and how much time was spent in each country.

The Bluesmart suitcase fits international carry-on size standards and will automatically lock if you walk away from it. But, should the battery lose power, it comes with a TSA-approved master key that will help you (or airport security) get inside. It also comes with an easy-to-access laptop compartment so you can pull out your computer right before the security line.